Chandigarh spat escalates after Haryana CM’s announcement

Punjab CM Mann demands land for Assembly building like Haryana; Oppn. targets him for ‘diluting’ Punjab’s stand

The emotive issue surrounding the contending claims on Union Territory (UT) Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, festered once again on Saturday after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal announced that the Centre has accepted the State’s demand for land in Chandigarh towards the construction of an additional building of the Assembly.

Citing space crunch, Mr. Lal raised the demand during the 30th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in Jaipur on Saturday. He said even though 56 years have passed since the State’s creation, Haryana has not got its full rights.

Soon after the announcement, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged the Central government to allot land to Punjab similarly. “I appeal to the Central government that on the lines of Haryana, Punjab should also be allotted land in Chandigarh to build its own Assembly. There has been a demand for a long time that the Punjab and Haryana High Court should also be separated... for this as well, the Central government should kindly provide land in Chandigarh,” he said in a tweet.

The dispute over Chandigarh goes back to the time Haryana was carved out of Punjab as a separate State in 1966. The city was made a UT under the direct control of the Centre and the common capital of both Punjab and Haryana. The Punjab and Haryana State Assembly complexes are housed in a single building in Chandigarh and Haryana has been long raising the demand for demarcation under the terms of creation of the State.

Mr. Mann’s quick response in turn invited sharp criticism from political parties in the State including the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and Punjab Lok Congress, which termed his demand as tantamount to “diluting” and “surrendering” the State’s claim on Chandigarh.

“I am shocked that someone who calls himself the Chief Minister of Punjab can issue statements to give up its widely acknowledged and inalienable right on its capital, Chandigarh. The entire city belongs to Punjab and the Punjab CM is begging for a little space on our own land for the Vidhan Sabha building. Is Bhagwant Mann really so unaware of the history of his own State steeped in struggle and martyrdom by our people for securing justice on Chandigarh and other areas where Punjabis in general and Sikhs, in particular, have been brazenly discriminated against?” said SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. The former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister said the Centre has no right to allot “even an inch of Chandigarh to Haryana”.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring hit out at Mr. Mann’s demand as well, saying the Punjab government has knowingly or unknowingly tried to forfeit its right over the existing building.